Americans: The Final Consumer Product

I-Pods are not the hottest consumer item up for grabs in America this Christmas season. Neither are PS-3's, items from Victoria's Secret, or that Lexus you wish you could stick a giant red ribbon on. The single greatest and most fought-over product is...

you.

That's right. A culture based on consumption needs active consumers in order to survive and thrive.

Add to this a simple fact: a culture based on consumption is a culture fueled by greed. Those profiting from greed are also slaves to it: meaning that survival is not enough. Consumption must be increased, in order for the economic elements to continue to expand.

Some of you are thinking along the lines of: "So, Mark, you think America is run by greedy corporations who wish to enslave our minds in order to turn an ever-greater profit? Sounds like an overstated conspiracy."

That's exactly what I believe. Take a few blanket examples, for starters:

1.) I-Pods. A cultural revolution. There are other mp3 players, but self-respecting people -- those in the "know" and in the "cool" -- will only purchase the I-Pod brand.

2.) Gas Prices. The price of gas has been purposefully moved around for two reasons: first, to gauge the breaking-point in American response to price-gouging, as well as to desensitize us to high prices by temporarily posting even higher prices, telling us to be glad that things have gotten better when we fall closer to the 3-dollar mark once again.

3.) The complete refusal of large companies to invest in new forms of fuel while the older, more expensive variety is still available. If countries such as New Zealand and Brazil are becoming energy independent, why are we still slaves to Saudi oil barons?

4.) Our food supply. Take sources, toxins, price, and the prevalence of food-related diseases such as diabetes in America, and no more need be said.

5.) The entertainment industry. In the 1980's and early 90's, MTV showed us that Americans can be slowly but surely reprogrammed in their thought patterns by quasi-thought presented in glitzy-television style. What has happened since is tragic, predictable and transparent for anyone who has managed to maintain a detached perspective.

6.) The automotive industry, and marketing of unnecessarily large (and overpriced) vehicles to the American population. See also points 2 and 3.

7.) The medical industry, and how it has turned the care of human suffering into a lucrative business. Most Americans don't realize that embryonic stem-cell research was being pushed by private interests in the political arena, not because it is capable of miracle cures foreign to other research, but because the methods of utilizing it were patented and therefore of great potential profit to those corporations owning the patents. An entire nation was duped in this issue, also proving that most Americans have become sufficiently blind to research the issue on their own (see, point #5.)

8.) Cancer and diabetes "research." I cringe whenever I see a doctor or dietitian suggest snacks such as mass-produced candy and foods full of hydrogenated oils as part of a "well-balanced diet," or suggest that organic foods are no healthier than their Wal-Mart brand counterparts. After all, if the treatment of cancer and diabetes is a multi-billion dollar industry, why criticize the foods which help cause such diseases? Considering the money made from these forms of human misery, do you honestly think a cure will ever be released?

Think me paranoid or over-analyzing if you will, but I will propose the following: you are the greatest consumer product in America. You -- a human being -- are the item bought, sold, and manipulated by the pixels before your eyes.

If you disagree or doubt, then I pose the following challenge: tomorrow, leave your political beliefs and consumerist tastes at home. Step back from every situation you encounter, and view it through the lens I have proposed with this article. The experience will surely change you. (Unless, of course, you don't desire such an unpleasant change... which is exactly what the consumerist moguls are counting on.)